The Pumpkins

She gave him pumpkins, carved with spine-chilling grimaces that mocked him for his blunder. He began having dreams of the pleasant harmony that would have filled the space between them had he not waited too long to confess his true feelings for her. However, those dreams always turned into nightmares in which he saw her conjure those selfsame pumpkins to pursue him left, right and centre until he awoke in a pool of sweat.

I would often find him in the morning leaning against the kitchen window or lying across the sofa, his stare so pale and sallow that I took it as his sign that the nightmare had returned to haunt him. At times I would hear him singing along to “No Me Doy por Vencido”, a song I recognized as being her favourite, which took on a whole new meaning for him as he threw himself to the beat of the music with valiant effort to be as strong as the singer- even though the aftermath of his broken heart was always evident. He never got rid of the pumpkins despite their horrific appearance, and always kept them on the little table in the kitchen, tending to them as though she were in them, and by throwing them out, he would be throwing out the only thing he had left of her.

He began to worry me. Whenever we walked to class he seemed aloof, and barely said a word in the fifteen minutes it took us to go to and from campus. His performance in class had also proven to be on a downhill curve, and it came to the point where he asked that I photocopy my notes for him, because he had zoned out through half the lectures. He refused to finish Great Expectations, and almost managed to get through Catcher in the Rye, but in the end his lovelorn pain and sorrow grew too cumbersome for him to bear, and I wondered whether he would ever pull through for the sake of his future, and that English Degree that we both have been striving three years to attain.

The ramifications had such a heavy effect on me that my girlfriend took notice during our outings when I would zone out without even intending to. When she snapped me out to inquire what the matter was, I shrugged her off with a mumbled nothing so as not to render her with anything to fret about. At night I lay awake, staring at the pitch-black ceiling as I hummed with the subtle voice that crooned in the adjacent room. Even after he had sung and cried himself to sleep, and the only sound to penetrate the darkness was the flow of my own breath, I still lay motionless on my bed, wanting much to do something, but not having the slightest idea what I could do. The more I thought about it, the more difficult it became to find a solution, and the harder it was to come clean to my girlfriend, who grew more and more aware that something was indeed the matter. It wouldn't be long before she hounded the truth out of me.

Halloween was on the horizon, and despite being a time that he thoroughly enjoyed, he still showed no signs of improvement towards his happy self. When I asked him if he wanted to go costume shopping, he sighed, and without taking his gaze from the window he questioned the point of the thrill if he couldn’t share it with her. I left him to his own devices, and went with my girlfriend in search of an oversized yellow sweater for my costume as the seventh dwarf to her Snow White.

­

“What do you think of this one?” Nora asked, taking a sweater from the pile of meticulously folded clothes.

I gave it a quick scan, and shook my head.

“It’s the wrong shade of yellow.”

“So what?” she examined it at every angle in attempt to find the slightest flaw that would render it ineligible to pass off as Dopey’s sweater.

“It doesn’t even have a hood, either,” I replied.

“Of course!” she threw her head back with a sigh, “well, it’s the best we’ve found, so try it on, and see how it fits.”

She held it out for me to take.

“But it’s not it!” I whined.

She raised her eyebrow, and became serious, the way she always did when her patience had been tried enough.

“Come on, Felix, we’ve already looked in five stores. Nothing will be perfect anyway, for you’re taller than me. Take that into account, eh?” She tossed me the sweater with a giggle. “You’re an overgrown dwarf; a much older Dopey, don’t you think?”

“Or Dinky,” I said with a smile, “the eighth dwarf that everyone forgot.”

Nora laughed. “See? Solved! Put it on, let’s see how it fits!”

But I didn’t move. I couldn’t join in her laughter now that my friend’s depressing ailment once more made its silent invasion of my mind.

“Alright, Felix,” she took my hands in hers, and tenderly guided me to look at her, “you’ve been like this enough for me not to take any more of it. If there’s something troubling you, don’t be afraid to tell me.”

“But Nora,” I insisted, “nothing is troubling me.”

“It has something to do with Simon and those freaky pumpkins, right?”

She had known about the pumpkins. She had seen them one day when she had come over to the apartment, and at her inquiry as to where they had come from I had told her that they were a gift from one of Simon’s friends. I was certain that from then onward she had pieced everything together about the situation, and had merely been waiting for me to tell her myself. She was that good at reading people’s faces, and solving mysteries by the most obvious and yet most astounding of ways. It hadn’t been until Simon explained it to me that I finally understood that the pumpkins were not simply some gift just because Halloween was around the corner, Alicia- an English major of Spanish descent- had taken an expression from her culture, and literalized it. As a token of rejection to Simon’s love she had literally given him pumpkins, and added insult to injury by carving out those demonic faces. And of course Nora would have been able to figure that out, she was a Spanish minor (however, she would have figured that out anyway simply by her resourcefulness). How stupid I was to think I could have hidden this from her.

I let out a mumbled apology, but Nora waved it off.

“You had your reasons. But don’t look now, something wicked this way comes.”

She thrust her chin towards another part of the store, and I turned to see Alicia with a brawny fellow that must have been the boy for whom she had snubbed Simon. That witch! I thought, what the hell!

“Should I talk to Simon?” Nora’s voice turned me back.

“No,” I replied, “I feel it’s up to me to help him.” I stopped to think of the perfect way in which to continue my reasoning, and felt Nora’s hand on my shoulder, calming me down as though she had the answer.

“But you don’t know how.”

I nodded. She smiled, and once more patted the yellow sweater in my arms.

“We’ll solve this problem first, then I’ll help with Simon.”

 

We climbed the stairs to the second floor of the duplex, the faint sound of “No me Doy por Vencido” seeping through the door as we reached the landing. Nora gave me a look of reproach, and shook her head in disappointment at my having left my best friend in such agony for so long. She opened the door, and we entered the apartment to see Simon at the other end by the little kitchen table, lip-synching to the song emanating from his laptop placed in the living room, and following the rhythm and emotion with dramatic movements of his head and arms.

¡Yo, yo no me doy por vencido!

¡Yo quiero un mundo contigo!

¡Juro que vale la pena esperar y esperar y esperar un suspiro!

            Nora closed the laptop, but Simon carried on as though the music still played.

            “Una señal del destino!”

            He opened his eyes, and stood still, staring at the three pumpkins on the little table as he came to the realization that the room had become silent.

            “You’re a good singer, Simon,” Nora said, “I’m sorry to have interrupted you.”

            Simon slowly turned towards us, his pose and grimace unaltered by any degree.

            “Nora….Felix,” he straightened himself up, and turned in embarrassment to face the window, “I wasn’t expecting you this early.”

            “Well, here we are nonetheless,” crooned Nora, “would you like to sit with us a bit?”

            He declined the offer with a shake of his head, still looking out the window.

            “I don’t want to be a third wheel in your relationship matters.

            Nora beckoned me to approach. I closed the door, and waddled up beside her.

“Our matter, though, has to do with you, Simon,” I said, seeing her other signal, insisting I talk to him.

Simon turned to the pumpkins, and contemplated them solemnly.

“There’s nothing you can do,” he intoned, “she left me in pieces.”

“So pick up those pieces and put yourself together,” I suggested, confirming with Nora that I was on the right track, “leave her just as she left you.”

“I can’t,” he sobbed, “it’s not easy to let go of someone who was such a good friend and who left me for the mere reason of having loved her.”

“Well, she’s now with someone else, and there’s nothing you-" I doubled over as Nora’s elbow rammed into my side, and Simon hit his head against the table in despair. I looked at Nora who was shaking her head again with that same look of reproach as before.

“Simon,” she said finally, swerving around the sofa to get to the kitchen, “don’t be like this, it’s not healthy. She chose another, so what?” She began to glide a hand along his back in consolation. “Smile at the bad times, for life would always give you pumpkins. Some with good faces carved into them like Felix, and some like these.” She straightened him up with care, and gently made him look at her. “But you need to find the smile from within the wicked faces, and from there carry on through life.”

“Alicia is my life,” Simon sighed.

“There will come another who would love you more,” Nora assured him.

He looked at her in the eyes as though he sought the flame of truth shimmering in her pupils.

“You sure?”

Nora didn’t respond, but I know she nodded in her solemn manner of closing and opening her eyes. Simon looked up towards me.

“Take care of her,” he said, “she’s a genuine pearl.”

“She reminds me of that every day,” I said with a smile.

He began to laugh, Nora and I in turn adding our joy to the cacophony of high spirits.

“Onward to life, my friends!” cried Simon after a moment. “Onward to life!”

“And what do you have in mind to do?” I asked.

He looked at the pumpkins, contemplating them like a sergeant examining his soldiers.

“Like you said, Felix: leave her as she left me.”

 

The door opened, and there stood Alicia, dressed as though she were to attend a masquerade ball, a stainless steel bowl of assorted candies cradled on her hip as she reached in to grab a handful. But she jumped at the sight of us with the pumpkins on our heads as we began to sing:

Te-te-te! Te-te-te!

Where’s the wicked witchy?

We made a sudden lunge for her, arms outstretched as though to grab her. She screamed in terror, dropping the bowl, and ran inside calling out for someone that I assumed to be that brawny guy from the clothing store; the lucky duck who in the end got to be her boyfriend.

            “Now!” Simon hissed as heavy footsteps began lumbering towards us from somewhere in the house.

We darted away in hoots of laughter and accomplishment as the first trick-or-treaters started filing into the night.

-EDP

Author's Note

This is a sister story to "The One". Same theme, different direction.

Reviews

[Talia]

Very emotional and very well put. I think a lot of people have had stronger feels for a friend and it ended in shambles, including me. You really captured the heartbreak

[emipoemi]

it helps when you've lived it (or know people who have lived it). Authenticity is a must. Glad yo enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.

[barleygirl]

The strongest aspect of your storytelling is your ability to convey your nuanced understanding of human nature, not just thru strong realistic dialogue, but also by showing us thoughts & understandings from your characters along the way. The mechanics of your writing & your storytelling are top notch here. In the first five paragraphs, you use pronouns quite a bit (he/she) & with 4 possible people in your scene, I wasn't always clear right away about which "he" or "she" was being discussed. Maybe using names a little more often would help clear this up. I love this touch: "an expression from her culture, and literalized it" -- you explain the nuances of everyone's understanding of Spanish interestingly, but I never felt I was fully informed as to what expression you're referring to (did I miss it? was it never made clear? was I supposed to be able to guess it?) Other than those two teensy glitches, I felt your story compelling & satisfying (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[emipoemi]

In my prose writing, I enjoy starting off mysteriously, and then painting the picture as the story goes along. Like in the predecessor of this story, it's told in first person, and so everything, especially once reread, should fall into place afterwards. As for the expression, it is there. Hidden, but there. Since not many people who know Spanish would be reading this, I didn't think it necessary to go into more detail about the actual expression (which by the way is "dar calabazas (a alguien)" - to give (someone) pumpkins). So glad you enjoyed this. Thanks for reading.

[Annabella]

I love how this story builds up suspense around the pumpkins, and draws great emotion when you feel Simon's hurt from having his heart broken. We've all been there, it's super relatable.

My favorite aspect is that the ending is absolutely goofy, in a tension-releasing way, and it reminds me about how quickly younger people rebound and get back into life. It's a great reminder that even though things seem terrible right now, just reaching out can make all of the difference.

This was a great read!

[emipoemi]

So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading.

[Anise]

I was not expecting the ending that came and that is good.
As the ending approached I imagined Simon might take some revenge or something.
In your fifth paragraph this line: "When I asked him if he wanted to go costume shopping, he sighed, and without taking his gaze from the window he questioned the point of the thrill if she couldn’t share it with her." The first 'she' feels like it should be a 'he'. Overall I enjoyed it. :)

[emipoemi]

Good catch! I must have forgotten to change it when I edited the line (it used to be smoothing different). But I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.

[Anise]

You are welcome. :) Always good to have extra sets of eyes.

[H L Rose]

I like the out there aspects like the insanely cruel pumpkins, Simons dramatic attitude, and the silly ending. I think they lend themselves to a light hearted toned story that covers a heavy topic.

I like the dreams again. I think it’s an effective way to convey the affect the situation has on the character(I could be using the wrong “affect”/“effect” here, but I just can’t figure those two words out)

I saw a few simple mistakes that can be fixed in another proofread, for example, near the end of the third paragraph “for the sake of the his future”.

“It was only a matter of time before she hounded the truth out of me.” I thought this sentence was saying she actually did get the truth out of him already so I was confused when they talked about it later. You could say “before she would hound the truth...”, but it could have just been the way I read it.

“When she snapped me out to inquire...” again it could be how I read it, but this line seems a bit confusing to me. Perhaps specify “snapped me out of my troubled thoughts” or something like that.

I liked the Halloween shopping scene, and the conversation about dwarfs. I honestly never thought about being a dwarf for Halloween, and I think I just might this next year.

The ending was a silly addition that nicely played on the Halloween theme. I’m a bit unsure about some of the imagery. It says “pumpkins over our heads” and then “arms outstretched”. Are they holding the pumpkins over their heads? When they lunge for Alicia, do they still have the pumpkins in their hands. This could of course just be an element that occurs to me personally and not that important.

Just like “The One”, I like the premise, and how you got the emotions across so well. I think this is an interesting version of the same idea.

[emipoemi]

Thank you! This came as an idea, for I tried to use the pumpkin idea for The One, but "my editors" rejected it because it wasn't going to go over well (no one would get the reference, which is a play on the Spanish expression "darle calabazas", which literally means "to give someone pumpkins" but which actually means "to reject someone [romantically]"). So this is the translated (revamped) version of the Spanish story I ended up writing with that expression (because no freaking way was I going to let that idea go to waste!). The halloween costume shopping scene is actually a true story, which happened to me when I was in Spain. My friend wanted to go as Snowwhite, and wanted me as one of the dwarfs. So we spent the entire evening looking for a yellow sweater....hilarity ensues lol). I see your corrections, thank you for those. Are all four the collective errors that need to be looked at, or are there more typos too? There are explanations for three of them. Consider the typo fixed, but the "hounded the truth out of me" is in his head. Maybe I should say "it would be a matter of time" but to me it didn't sound as good, and "it was only a matter of time" has been used in the conditional abstract aspect (because English is weird); I don't see how the "snapped me out to inquire" wouldn't be clear that it's snapping out of a trance. The antecedent is literally the last few words of the line before it. But I'll take that into account; Maybe I should say "on our heads", because the three of them are wearing the pumpkins, and are lunging at Alicia with arms outstretched as a means to scare her.
Thanks again for reading! Glad you enjoyed it.

[emipoemi]

btw, a good mnemonic device for the "affect" vs "effect" is "a for action" (something affects another) whereas "e for end result" (the effect of the flood)

[H L Rose]

It’s a great idea and I am glad you chose to write a story including it. It’s a pretty cruel gesture.

Writing from true stories, like your yellow sweater one, leads to the most authentic story telling(I guess it makes sense that it would). I think some of the greatest creativity is derived from reality.

“I wonder weather if he would”(in the line right before the other typo) seems like it’s a bit off grammatically. I thought I saw another one, but I can’t find it now, so maybe I read it wrong the first time.

[H L Rose]

I’m going to save that mnemonic device in an easily accessible note on my phone, because no matter how often it is explained to me I will forget it.

[emipoemi]

good call on the errors....maybe my fast fingers got ahead of me and I didn't even notice. Thanks again

[H L Rose]

Thanks for the explanation on effects/affects!